Where can I buy a linux-friendly laptop?

[Evan Leibovitch]

Lennart Sorensen wrote:

>Remember that lovely pcmcia/pccard slot all laptops come with?  Modems
>used to go there.  They used to be hardware modems too.  USB really
>doesn't make sense for a laptop where you generally don't want bits
>dangling off it just to do normal stuff.
>  
>

Modems need to have a phone cable plug into them. This means that even 
PC-Card modems either have dongles or flimsy, fragile "pop out" 
connectors. I've used both. The dongles are no smaller than the USB 
modem, and the pop-out connectors break or bend all-too-easily. It's 
also possible to accidentally plug the RJ-11 connector in backwards to 
the pop-out.

The USB modem has the advantage of being usable on desktop systems in a 
pinch. Since it's external, it doesn't contribute to internal laptop 
heat the way PC cards do. The dongle has status LEDs which can be a 
great help in diagnosing problem connections. And lastly, the USB modem 
is less expensive than PC-Card non-Winmodems.

- Evan

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